Don't You (From The Vault)

Fearless (Taylor's Version) [2021]

“Don’t You (From The Vault)” used to be an unreleased song written by Taylor during the creation of her second studio album, “Fearless” (2008). It was finally released on April 9, 2021 on “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”.

Over a decade on from its release, Taylor is re-visiting her second album with the release of “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”. As part of her unprecedented battle to regain ownership of her own music, she is re-recording her first six albums, with “Fearless” being the first to see the light of day. Alongside re-working the album, there are a few surprises – including the unearthing of previously unreleased track “Don’t You (From The Vault)”.

FROM THE VAULT
Songs “from the vault” were written when Taylor was between the ages of 16 and 18 in the run-up to the release of album two. Back when she initially released “Fearless” in 2008, these tunes were held back for various reasons, including the fact that you couldn’t cram that many songs onto a physical CD – how very 2008. But in 2021, with the re-recording of her second album, Taylor wanted to let fans “into the entire dreamscape that is my fearless album.” In a post to social media, she shared her excitement:

“I’m counting down the minutes til we can all jump into this brave world together, filled with equal parts nostalgia and brand newness. Head first, Fearless ” — Taylor Swift

LYRICAL CONTENT AND PRODUCTION
“Don’t You” describes Taylor running into an ex, and the encounter causing her to remember their past together and feel the pain of their history together that hurt her. She doesn’t understand how this person doesn’t feel the same pain that she does, but resigns herself to moving on with her life, and rejecting the person’s desire to pretend to stay friends. She told Amazon Music in April, 2021:

“‚Don’t You‘ is a song that I wrote with Tommy Lee James, who’s a fantastic writer. We wrote it about the idea of seeing someone that you used to have a thing for and seeing them out in public for the first time after you’ve heard that they’ve moved on. Your life is kind of in shambles and they have moved on and are really happy. It’s almost like even them being nice to you hurts you because you’re in such a state of pain and you haven’t moved on yet. So that was a really fun song to write because that’s just a wellspring of emotion to draw from. Jack Antonoff produced it and I think he did a really, really beautiful job of highlighting the melody and letting it be really airy, sort of like a dreamscape.” — Taylor Swift

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Hey, I knew I’d run into you somewhere
It’s been a while, I didn’t mean to stare
I heard she’s nothin’ like me
I’m sure she’ll make you happy

[Chorus]
But don’t you
Don’t you smile at me and ask me how I’ve been
Don’t you say you’ve missed me if you don’t want me again
You don’t know how much I feel I love you still
So why don’t you, don’t you?

[Post-Chorus]
Ah, ah, ah, ah

[Verse 2]
Sometimes I really wish that I could hate you
I’ve tried, but that’s just somethin’ I can’t do
My heart knows what the truth is
I swore I wouldn’t do this

[Bridge]
So I walk outta here tonight
Try to go on with my life
And you can say, “We’re still friends”
I don’t wanna pretend
So if I see you again

[Chorus]
Don’t you (Don’t you)
Don’t you smile at me and ask me how I’ve been
Don’t you (Don’t you), say you’ve missed me if you don’t want me again
You don’t (You don’t), know how much I feel I love you still
So why don’t you, don’t you?

[Outro]
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Don’t you, ah, ah, ah